The three things Katrina Mudge thought when doctors told her she had stage four bowel cancer

Single mum Katrina Mudge says her GP ignored her symptoms – even when she knew something was very wrong. This was her reaction when she was diagnosed with stage four cancer.

Single mum Katrina Mudge had three thoughts when she was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer eight months after her first symptoms – how did her doctor miss this? Was she going to die? What were her kids going to do without her?

After suffering with stomach issues and feeling unwell the 50-year-old had her stool tested in January 2023.

The results returned a positive result for blood and Ms Mudge, who has four children including two with autism spectrum disorder, said her doctor ignored it.

“I was filling the toilet up with blood, I knew I was sick,” the Ottoway woman said.

“I was crying on the toilet … the kids could hear me.”

Katrina Mudge with her youngest son Eli Mudge. Picture: Supplied

Katrina Mudge undergoing chemotherapy for stage four bowel cancer. Picture: Supplied

Ms Mudge said she was becoming “sicker and sicker”, finding herself unable to finish her shifts at Woolworths in the deli.

“I started to drop weight and I’m a big girl,” she said.

That’s when her doctor referred her for a colonoscopy which was booked for August 20.

But Ms Mudge couldn’t wait that long for answers. She booked in with another GP earlier in August and within a week, after numerous tests was told she had bowel cancer.

“If he (my first doctor) was listening to me earlier, I might have not got to stage four,” she said.

“I was very angry because he (my first doctor) didn’t listen and I knew something was wrong.

“My second thought was, am I going to die? … when you hear stage four you think you’re going to die.

“My third thought. is leaving my kids behind, because they are my world.”

Katrina Mudge and her son Dilan who has autism spectrum disorder. Picture: Supplied

Katrina Mudge prior to her MRI. Picture: Supplied

Ms Mudge has four beautiful children – Connor, 22, Dilan, 21, Lili, 17 and Eli, 12 and both Dilan and Eli have autism spectrum disorder.

“My youngest … I’m scared of leaving him … who’s going to take care of him the way that I do? Who’s going to understand him in the ways that I do?” Ms Mudge said.

“I would do anything for my children, if I survive and my children are 40, I’m still going to do everything for my children.

“I don’t think I’ve cried so much in my entire life. I cry so much it isn’t even funny.”

Katrina Mudge was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer eight months after she first showed symptoms. Picture: Supplied

Katrina has a cancerous mass in her bowel and cancer throughout her liver. Picture: Supplied

After Ms Mudge received her diagnosis she confronted her original GP with her results.

“All he said to me what ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know’ because he didn’t check, he wouldn’t even check anything,” she said.

Ms Mudge has a cancerous mass in her bowel and cancer throughout her liver.

Doctors are still performing tests to confirm a prognosis, however she has undergone 12 rounds of chemotherapy since her diagnosis.

If you’d like to donate to Ms Mudge, you can here.

Originally published as The three things Katrina Mudge thought when doctors told her she had stage four bowel cancer